Active shooter situations are chaotic and confusing by nature, often making them difficult to report on -- particularly in the age of social media.

As we continue to gather information on this shooting, however, it's difficult not to reflect more broadly on the issue of gun violence in the United States.

As President Obama stated after hearing about the shooting on Wednesday,

We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.

Indeed, gun violence is an evident problem in the United States we can't afford to ignore.

There are no simple solutions to this issue, but doing nothing as we continue to face incidents like what occurred today in San Bernardino is simply unacceptable.

Addressing gun violence does not mean revoking gun rights, it means finding a balance between not punishing responsible gun owners while making substantive changes to prevent future deaths from firearms.

Here are four shocking facts about shootings and gun deaths in the US that prove the time to act is now.

Gun violence kills more people in the US per year than terrorism has since 9/11.

Many Americans perceive terrorism as one of the greatest threats to their safety. But, according to the New America Foundation, 79 people have been killed in terror attacks in the United States since 9/11. No one is arguing this is a good thing, but it's decidedly less than the number of lives gun violence claims per year.

Even if you combine the total number of people that died on 9/11 (2,997) with all of the Americans that have died from terrorism since that awful day, it still doesn't come close to the number of people killed by gun violence every year.

There are over 20,000 firearm suicides every year.

If you account for both suicides and homicides, guns kill around 30,000 people in the US per year. That means suicides account for around two-thirds of all gun-related deaths in the US annually. But we aren't talking about it very much.

Some might argue people who commit suicide would find a way to do so even if they didn't have a gun. But, as Vox notes, only around six to seven percent of suicide attempts involving poisoning and cutting are successful while the rate of success for suicides involving guns is over 90 percent.

Indeed, suicide attempts are far more likely to be successful if guns are involved.

Simply put, there's a great deal of evidence reducing access to guns can help reduce firearm suicides.

It's simple, where there are more guns, there is more violence and death. We can either acknowledge this and act, or continue to ignore it and witness more innocent people die.

**Editor's note: This article initially reported 14 people were wounded in San Bernardino shooting but was updated after it was confirmed 17 were wounded. It was updated again after it was confirmed at least 21 were wounded.